Eyton Pritchard Owen (1868-1950)
Elijah and Elizabeth Owen's third child, Eyton Pritchard Owen, was born at the National School House Glanogwen, Bethesda, (right) on 21 November 1868. He almost certainly attended that school before the family moved to Anglesey in the mid-1870s where he and his brothers attended Beaumaris School (bottom right). He told a good friend of his that at church in Anglesey he and his brothers would sometimes drop down and crawl around the church under the pews, a practice he himself would have frowned on in later life.
He went to Durham University and, according to the census, studied Theology. Aspects of the student years he shared there with his brother
Oswald Williams Owen
and their cousin
Thomas Edward Owen
are described
here.
These show his prowess as a sportsman. A brilliant athlete and a talented football and hockey defender, he particularly enjoyed sailing, a love he shared with his brother Reginald; their Anglesey childhood had afforded them ample opportunities to practice.
Eyton graduated BA from Durham in December 1892 but the university journals show that he continued to participate in representative rowing and football until mid-March the following year. It is known that he considered following his father and others in the family into the Church and it may be that he began a final year of study for his L.Th. However, he did not complete the year and left Durham to work as an assistant master at Waterloo High School, Blundellsands, near Liverpool.
Just months later Eyton would show incredible bravery in saving the life of one of three boys just off the beach near his school (map), for which the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society awarded him a prestigeous gold medal (see report and medal); tragically the boy's brother and a friend were drowned. (See the full story here).